Johannesburg - A fuming Minister of Higher Education, Science and Technology, Blade Nzimande, is unhappy with the lack of media attention devoted to him.
He has called his director general and deputy minister to order after he accused them of excluding him from the department’s media platform.
In a leaked audio recording, Nzimande can be heard telling members of his communication team and deputy minister Buti Manamela, his DG Nkosinathi Sishi, deputy director Lucky Masuku, and departmental spokesperson Ishmael Mnisi to stop outshining him when it comes to media attention.
He said that as the minister, he was the official spokesperson for the department of higher education and felt let down by attempts by the team to exclude him from occupying more airtime.
“Why? Is there someone with an issue against me in the department? I am never covered by the DHET wall. Never ever, yet I am the department’s chief spokesperson for both the department of science and technology and the department of higher education. Now I want an explanation here today as to why that is the case,” the minister said.
Nzimande said it was not the first time he had been outshone by the DG or his deputy minister, adding that every time he needed things to be done right, he had to complain.
“Friday was worse. Friday was embarrassing. We had this big programme. It was a massive programme. We were launching a computer media lab. It was the second that we were launching in the country.
“The first one we launched won an international award. Here I am, the chief spokesperson of the department. Now I am not in competition, DG. We should never ever in the future have any functions competing with the minister’s functions, even with the deputy minister,” he said.
“I said when I start speaking, please go to the DHET wall right at the same time, and who is captured speaking is the DG. I do not have a problem with the DG being covered. But what the wall is doing is interchanging between the DG and the deputy minister. I was not covered on Friday, by the way,“ Nzimande said.
He said such sabotage would end up creating confusion and tension between himself and the deputy minister and needed to be corrected.
“It is not the first time. In many instances, I am speaking there, and the wall is covering the deputy minister. In essence, what the communication team is doing is deliberately causing tension between myself and the deputy minister by doing so,” he said.
The Star tried to get comment from Nzimande’s spokesperson, Ishmael Mnisi, but did not receive comment by publication
The Star